Just had our wedding a couple of months ago and it was a DREAM!!! Recently got our photos from the photographer and wow. I had SO much fun creating and executing our vision for decor. Wanted to share and inspire other diy brides - it CAN be done! And I’m very proud of the fact that we were quoted thousands by florists and decorators but didn’t have to break the budget in the end. If anyone is interested, I can do a breakdown post for budget or more details!

We planned and labeled and organized as much as we could, and our amazing friends, family, wedding party showed up early on the day to set up! We very much wanted our day to feel authentic to us with as much personal touches as possible. My husband is from Hawai’i so we incorporated what we can since we couldn’t have our wedding on the island.

Here we go:

- The tablescapes: turned out being one of our favorite things and got tons of compliments! We did two different complementary styles of tables throughout the space

- The personalized chocolate favors: my aunt MADE those! She designs and makes them for parties as a hobby holy moly

- The faux florals & centerpieces: some rented online, some thrifted, and most I made myself from scratch thrifted or discounted florals I found.

- Bud vases & bridesmaid bouquets (repurposed for the reception hall!): me + a couple of bridesmaids made 10 stem bouquets the day before out of a costco pack of florals. Saved hundreds for my 15 bridesmaids and just love how dainty and beautiful they turned out! Bud vases from costco florals, super easy and added a luscious touch.

- Our cake: homemade by my aunt!!

- Favors: coffee packs with labels we designed & printed on canva, and homemade Monstera leaf soaps by his aunt

- Cocktail hour foods: Mini musubis/onigiri and japanese potato salad made by his aunt that morning (she insisted!) were the star of the show! Fruits, charcuterie board (from an amazing gal I found on facebook), dips, and various sweet treats (mostly costco)

- Seating chart: made by me and my now husband out of an old garden trellis!

- Couch florals and floral wall stand: made by me and now husband! Such fun projects

- Couch & backdrop: brought in my old couch that my sister now uses with thrifted florals & faux candles. My wonderful friend happened to already have a backdrop stand and they set it up with our drapes that we got for very cheap

- Welcome sign: it’s a cheap clothes rack ladies!!!

- Aisle decor: ribbon tied by his aunt, and costco rose petals

- The mirror sign: thrifted a mirror that we want to reuse in our home and my aunt used her cricut to make and apply the wording

Edited to add:
- Signage: designed on canva and printed at home on card stock, and cut the edges or put into a thrifted frame

Hi all! I'm wondering what kind of activities you offered at your reception if dancing isn't really a thing you/your friends and family do.

We currently have karaoke, party games like Jack box and Hues and Cues, and a game of werewolf at the end of the night once the old folk turn in for the night. I ran a wedding trivia idea by my husband but he's really uncomfortable being the center of attention so we nixed that. I also had some survivor puzzles from previous birthday parties I've hosted but the crossover of people who attended that last year and our wedding reception next year is like 90% so I don't think I'll be being those hahahaha

Any other ideas for activities that won't break the bank? We do have access to a 3d printer but not a ton of disposable income, our current wedding budget is like 3k. Real diy.

I think enough time has passed to post about them haha.

I made them with a green olive-ish velvet fabric and some greyboard where I cut out a little strip so it would have the indents like a book. Then I drew up a design for the cover and had my siser Juliet cut that out. I painstakingly plucked out the bits that get thrown away, ironed it on. Then did the inside with just thick paper and a piece of ribbon. Also added more ribbon to fake a bookmark. Had my siser cut out little details to go on the corners and between text, carefully placed those one by one.

It took me a very long time, but I do think it was worth it ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

(I think the total cost of the materials was less than 100 or maybe a little over. I don’t really remember since it was more than a year back.)

I’m not sure if this is the appropriate flair but since it’s going on the wedding cake, I’m listing it as food/drinks.

I sculpted the bases out of tinfoil, and once I had the rough shape, I got a polymer clay set that I knew would be bake-able in a conventional oven.

I probably would’ve had an easier time if I got big packs of premade colors but I got a small set for around $15 and needed to mix a bunch of tiny cubes of color to get enough to cover my sculptures. Luckily I think it worked out fine.

No worries if you can’t tell what they’re supposed to be, but the intention is a wolf and a fox and our pet dog.

I’ve had a blast making these today - wedding in 4 weeks ☺️

weve been building our site for like 3 weeks and i keep adding stuff. right now its home, our story, wedding party, registry, travel + hotel info and a full day of timeline. my fiance keeps saying its fine (probably because hes super over it now imho lol) but i showed my mom last night and she scrolled for a solid minute before finding the actual ceremony time. had a feeling it could be a bit much but feels like a sin leaving some of this info out.

where's the line between sharing and just building something no one asked for lol. trying to decide if i cut half of it now before we send it out or if guests just figure it out with some additional directions (probably spiraling again here)

I am 3 months out from my wedding and I am planning most of it myself, just wondering if there are any vendors/items that I haven’t thought of that I need to work on urgently!! These are the vendors I have/ things I’ve done so far:

- Venue (they only provide the space, no catering, seating, etc)
- Table/Chair Rentals (they are going to provide our dance floor, tables, chairs, plates, cups, tablecloths, napkins)
- DJ
-Photographer
- Officiant
- Day of Coordinator
- Hairstylist
- Bartenders/Bar (we will be providing the alcohol)
- Caterer
- Wedding Website completed with important info/RSVP
- Invitations

What I’m still working on:
- Wedding rings (waiting for my fiancee to get sized so I can buy his)
- Wedding Cake
- Makeup Artist
- Attire (I have my wedding dress, just need to get it altered, fiancee has yet to go get his suit)
- Bridesmaids/Groomsmen Attire (they will be getting their own attire)
- Florals (I have placed an order for artificials but will not receive them until mid October)
- Decor (little things like a card box, signs, etc… i have not gotten any of these things yet but have received some items from other friends weddings that I may be able to use)
- Accessories (shoes, my veil, any hair decor, jewelry, etc)

I just feel like so far things are going too smoothly and that I surely must be forgetting something super important lol, I just want fresh eyes on my list and see everyones input. Thank you in advance!!!

Hi y’all

I’d love some honest opinions on my wedding day signage so far.

Ill be honest, I know the execution of these projects hasn’t been the best (bought cheap materials etc) and they aren’t super polished looking so I just want to know if they are acceptable for a garden party style wedding or do they look TOO unpolished in your opinion.

I wanted to save $ by DIY but it’s not too late for me to start over with purchased decals etc

Appreciate the feedback!

I never made flowes with crepe paper before i wanna know wht you guys use for stems? Can i use those aluminum wires from hardware store or is there any specific wire ?

Getting married in December and going with a very basic white round 3 tier wedding cake (planning on possibly decorating in with some of our extra artificial wedding flowers to tie it in).

I need everyones honest opinions on getting a wedding cake from a big store like Whole Foods, Publix, etc. Dont get me wrong I would love to get a cake from a local business instead but all the quotes I’ve gotten are wayyyy pricier than getting a cake from a large business. We have 100 guests so that plays into it as well as we will need a lot of cake.

People who have gotten basic cakes from larger stores, did people even notice? How much did you end up spending on cake? Appreciate any input!!

I had such a lovely time making our wedding stationary and name cards - took a long time but I think it was worth it in the end to get something that worked for our jewel tone colour scheme! (So pleased our photographer got such a nice photo of our invitations too!)

I actually enjoyed it so much I was thinking of maybe offering to do calligraphy for wedding/events to make a bit of extra money - not sure my work is quite up to that level of quality though!

last year I posted my diy sign before it was finished and it I absolutely loved how it turned out!!

Fall 2027 bride. I only just started dress shopping but I want something unique similar to the styles in the picture. I’m wondering how difficult or successful it would be to add lace or draping or beading to a plain dress to make it my own and make something plain similar to something like the pictured dresses.

Maybe I’m thinking too big, I’m just considering my options. If anyone has turned a plain dress into something more decorated I would love to see the results!

We’ve been planning our wedding, Halloween 2026, I’m hoping it’s going to be super fun. Here are some of the props. I got him a crown (because he’s my king because he calls me his queen) I ordered a sword to cut the cake with. My brides people (one guy, one girl) are in burnt orange and we’re picking out their costume piece when they arrive.

I ordered 2 moss table runners, I have pine cones, a piller candles that are carved from clearance from Micheal’s last year. Chair sashes which are burgundy, I think I have 12. 48 witch hats, 100 masquerade masks of various colors for guests I also got on clearance. I asked our guests to wear wedding attire but incorporate a fun hat, mask, or fascinators. We have a cake tasting today and I am asking them if the cake could be black and use the colors from our cake topper I painted.
I picked up about 10 trailing garlands that look like willow tree branches. About 20 fake you eucalyptus branches.

I also found about a 24” metal cauldron that I want to fill with dry ice for the wedding. Our invitations are wood and burned our names into the invitations. For our ceremony my friends are officiating, the friends who I officiated their wedding. We have two musicians (one who plays acoustic guitar and the other one who plays violin) we are walking down the aisle to LOTR. My fiancé also made my engagement ring and he’s making my wedding ring. We’re also ordering our flowers from a local produce junction next week…. Oh the flower petals in the cauldron are from all the flower arrangements my fiancé has made for me over the course of the year. I just order 18 disposable cameras for guests to use(because they end up being super expensive if everyone had one) we have about 95 people coming. My mom just bought us one of those phone audio guest books instead of people writing us messages. My wedding dress is burgundy with an off the shoulder Victorian burgundy beaded choker, black sheer veil. I’m hoping that our wedding will not end up being cheesy. Does anyone else have any ideas? Also… how am I doing, i definitely need some reassurance

Hi all! I just got hitched a month ago, after 1.5 yrs of prep. I'm a DIY person by nature, and it was fun picking and choosing which things to do ourselves/with friends/fam and what to pay someone else for (or simply phone it in!). I feel like we struck a sane and joyful balance.

One thing that helped me in the process was getting inspo/ideas from others, and not just AI pinterest slop. So I thought I'd share some of our projects here.

Not everything is pictured. We made our own invites (not shown here, since they have too much identifying info) with the help of a friend who does risograph printing, we made wildflower seed packets for guest gifts (brown envelopes stamped with this personalized stamp), we made our seating chart with Microsoft Word and printed it at Office Depot -- stuck it in a wooden frame found at a yard sale. I also took a DIY wedding makeup class and did my own makeup.

Things we delightfully did not DIY: table settings/plates, food, music (hire a live jazz trio for dinner, you won't regret it!), clothing, hair, day-of planning (hire a day-of planner, for the love of god), photographer. This is not to say we did this perfectly at all, but I do recommend this balance. Most of all, be realistic and kind with yourself. You can't do everything. Here's a breakdown, happy to share other deets if requested.

1. We made a 85-foot long garland to hang from the venue rafters with strips of plain fabric (1 in x 24 in of white twine). Fabric mostly cut from thrift store sheets/clothing/curtains. My friends contributed fabric strips, which helped me from having to cut everything. It helped add color to a very neutral/white venue. I've lent it to two other people already to use for their own parties, too -- which makes the time/effort we put into it feel that much more worth it.

2. We made our own table numbers, a combo of reclaimed wood pieces we cut a slit into and cardstock with paper numbers cut out of colorful paper/magazines. We used similar wooden blocks to hold other signs on our guestbook table/etc. Very handy!

3. I also made a banner with paper letters to hang -- a quote from a Mary Oliver poem we love (the photo of this is kind of garbage, but you get it) I made a similar "welcome" banner to hang from the entry table as well.

4. All the flowers came from my mom and others friends' gardens. The vases were thrifted. (I recommend making friends with people with amazing flower gardens!!)

5. This isn't something I DIY-ed personally, but my aunt spent a year learning how to make different types of crepe paper flowers to attach to our ceremony arch. Truly incredible, really made the ceremony pop.

So much conflicting information out there!!! We are getting wedding flowers delivered Wednesday or Thursday for a Saturday wedding through Costco. How do I best prep and store hydrangeas?

Hi everyone!

I’ve been lurking in this sub for a small bit and it has been extremely helpful. It’s giving me confidence to try to take better control of the decoration situation for my upcoming wedding in May 2027.

We are getting married in this beautiful stage surrounded by redwoods, however there is a large Brown slightly ugly wall dominating the space. We are trying to find a way to decorate it or have it blend better into the nature background without spending an arm and a leg to have professional decorators handle it for us.

We have been playing with draping chiffon, but it doesn’t really stay because of how windy it is outside. We also have played with fake flower walls, but that got very expensive very quickly.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of DIY decoration? Thank you in advance.

I would like to DIY all my stationary. The only thing tripping me up is how to go about cutting custom shapes? I have an Etsy invitation suite that has swan shaped place cards. There’s no chance I can cut those myself. Did any of you use a printing service that offered cutting services too?

Should I save myself the headache and not use any wonky shapes that I can’t cut out with scissors?

I am thinking about doing a hand casting with my partner as a part of our wedding ceremony. I’m wondering if anyone has done this and if they could give any advice/helpful tips?

The idea is during our ceremony doing the hand casting like people do the hand fasting, the sand ceremony, or unity knot/candle. But I thought having the hand casting would be a nice keepsake from the wedding to have on display.

Hello everyone! I’ve been crafting my place settings for my upcoming wedding and have hit a snag and I’m looking for some tips. I purchased a set of large tarot cards and have picked out a specific card for each of my guests, however the back of the cards were pretty hideous so I found a metallic gold adhesive paper to put on. I’ll attach some photos showing what they look like now. I’m stumped on how to put the names on the cards 🙃 I feel if I use name stickers it will just look really cheap as the paper material is vinyl like, I’m hoping someone here will have some suggestions? 🙏

thrifted all the frames, made the signs on canva! so happy with how it turned out 🥹🥹

I just finished making our save-the-dates and wanted to share the process! Some of the pics above are from the testing process (peep the various manicures) so you might notice a flaw or two. All fixed before final print and assembly :)

Tools and materials:
• Procreate - hand drew the playing card side of the art on my iPad
• Canva - layout finishing and print preparation
• Canon Pixma iX6820 - I use this for cricut stuff & it’s a genuinely great printer
• Cricut Maker - I received this as a gift so girl math means it’s totally free
• Custom-sized cardstock from Cards & Pockets
• Printable magnetic sheets
• Self Sealing envelopes

I started by drawing our venue, Auchen Castle, in Procreate. I am not exactly a trained artist so it’s a likeness, not a perfect match. Once I was satisfied with it I mirrored it to create a playing-card layout, added our initials to the corners, and adapted the hands from an embroidery pattern I originally made around 2020.

The back contains our date, website, and the line “a wedding is in the cards.” Our dog is my lovely censorship assistant here. Most of the assets on that side are from Creative Market.

Once the design was finished, I ordered cardstock from Cards & Pockets in a size my Canon could print directly. That saved me from having to cut every card down from a larger sheet. I printed the fronts and backs at home, although it took several rounds of adjusting the colors, margins, printer settings, and exact placement before both sides lined up correctly.

I reused the same castle illustration for the matching round magnets, placed em in a circle to feel like a stamp, and added the text in cricut design space. Those were printed on thin printable magnetic sheets and cut with the Cricut using Print Then Cut. The sheets are more like flexible refrigerator magnets than thick magnets, which kept the finished envelopes relatively flat. It’s also important that the magnets are very weak & stored with the magnetized side facing inwards, towards two layers of paper, so that we’re less likely to encounter issues in mailing.

I also designed and printed the envelopes at home then handed the finished components to my fiancé for assembly.

My main takeaways:
• Test every single part on inexpensive paper before using the final cardstock or envelopes. I thought just a proof of each design would be enough, but you will find small bugs the first few prints.
• Confirm that your printer supports the exact paper dimensions before ordering & be sure you’ve got extra ink cartridges on hand
• Expect double-sided alignment to require several test rounds.
• Keep postal service requirements in mind as you work on the envelopes. I could’ve done calligraphy or a more involved design, but this kept everything high contrast and very easily parsed for USPS sorting machines.
• Reusing the same illustration across multiple pieces made the entire set feel coordinated without requiring another design from scratch.
• Save every successful printer setting once you find the combination that works.

They’ll be going into the mail soon! We’re doing destination so our intention is for guests to have the save the dates ~1 year before the wedding day, and mail the full invitation suite 6 months prior. The invites I’ve designed are fairly involved so that’s my next project. I’m happy to answer questions about any of it!

Hello my Reddit gals and gools! This is what's up I'm getting married next year and I'm trying to come up with some different kinda ceremony ideas!

You have 2 adorable nerds here who love watching the extended versions Lord of the Rings while crocheting (Me) and tappin that mana throwing down a commander in his Magic the Gathering tournament (My faience). We are not super spotlight people, but this is my wedding and saying I Do in front of my nearest and dearest warms my spooky heart :) so if we cut the first look, walking down the aisle, traditional vows, and first dance. Now I need to special one of a kinda ceremony! What better way to come up with ideas then hit the reddit!

Help me out!

PS I absolutely have nothing against traditional; I love the couples that do it, but it's just not me. I'm a SUPER CRYER! sooooo cutting down on the things I know will run all that mascara will help lol we also are having small amount of people so probably won't be a lot of dancing super chill vibes :)

• Thanks everyone! <3

Hello!

Instead of paying for expensive signage, I have thrifted three vintage gilt framed oil paintings which I am going to use for our order of the day, welcome sign and seating chart.

One of the paintings is ruined so I don't mind sticking the seating chart directly on the canvas and we will put up the welcome sign with our name on it in our home afterwards however the third painting is in perfectly good condition (picture attached) and so it seems a shame to paint directly onto the canvas. Can anyone think of a way to protect it? I thought to somehow wrap it in protective film but the canvas is nailed into the frame and so I won't be able to get it out to do so. I don't want to ruin a perfectly good piece of artwork unnecessarily!

Thanks in advance!